


In an Empty City

by Caia (Caius)



Category: DCU, Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-05
Updated: 2005-07-05
Packaged: 2017-10-03 08:01:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caius/pseuds/Caia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ollie comes to visit Hal. There is banter. And such.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In an Empty City

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers/continuity: Deals with events in Green Lantern: Rebirth and Green Lantern v4 1-2. Specific references to Green Lantern: Rebirth 6 and Green Lantern v4 2. A few references to older GL and GA continuity.  
> Acknowledgment: Thanks to [](http://lcsbanana.livejournal.com/profile)[**lcsbanana**](http://lcsbanana.livejournal.com/), [](http://angisageek.livejournal.com/profile)[**angisageek**](http://angisageek.livejournal.com/) and [](http://plainsong-x.livejournal.com/profile)[**plainsong_x**](http://plainsong-x.livejournal.com/) for many degrees of beta, encouragement, and advice.

"Running into a lot of crime 'round here, old buddy?" Ollie leaned on the side of a chimney, gazing up into the sky and grinning at Hal.

"Ollie!" said Hal, swooping down. "I was wondering when you would decide to say hello..."

"I do try to pay my respects to the resident hero. Especially if he's the only guy in town...hey!" he exclaimed, as Hal picked him up.

"Thinking of moving in?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay where there's actual crimefighting to be done. Though maybe I'll see about giving some criminals a ticket to Coast City...that is, if you see about *putting me down* sometime in the near future."

Hal laughed. "I thought you'd enjoy the view. But if you'd *prefer* to be dropped..."

"Only if you're *sure* you want to go to all the trouble of bringing me back!"

"It would be a bit of a hassle, yes. Here." He conjured up Ollie a nice couch.

Ollie looked down. "And I'd make a mess on those streets. Man, you could eat off 'em. You sure you don't want to go somewhere where there's actual crime?"

"This is my city. If I protect it, maybe people will come back--and meanwhile, I can always commute."

"Power rings are certainly good for that. Though I really prefer ground transport myself..." Ollie looked doubtfully downward.

Hal grinned. "I've noticed."

"So, are we sightseeing, or do you have plans for me, now I've been swept off my feet?" Ollie lounged on the green couch, arms crossed behind his head above his quiver. Mid-air; Ollie may have *preferred* a more down-to-earth method of travel, but he was well-accustomed to flying under his friends' power.

"Not enjoying the beauties of Coast City, old friend?"

"If you've seen *one* empty building, you've seen 'em all, Hal."

"In *that* case, why come here?" Hal perched himself on one arm of the flying couch.

"I heard there was an old friend of mine living there." Ollie put his legs in Hal's lap. "Besides, John was busy, and the JLA needed someone to check and see if you were killing anyone. Are you?"

"NO! That was Parallax."

"Good to know. Now, are you going to invite me in for coffee, or are we going to continue to patrol for crime or other signs of life?"

Hal smiled. The couch swooped down to the balcony of an apartment building, settling down and reshaping itself into a lawn chair as Hal stood up. "Coming in?"

Ollie straightened up, massaging his neck. He looked around. "...you haven't lived *here* since before we went on the road together."

"It was available again. And hey, it feels like home. Come on in!"

Ollie walked through the doors. He barely remembered the place; he and Hal hadn't been close until later. But it still felt oddly like stepping back into another time. A time before he lost his fortune the first time, before he took Hal to see America, before he had killed anyone. Long before Hal had. "Looks like I'm not the only one who wanted to forget most of my previous life."

"And not the only one who can't, either. This apartment may be where I lived when Abin Sur left me his ring, but every time I look at the empty city, I'm reminded of what I became." He walked into the kitchen and started up the coffee maker. "Coffee?"

"And what are you forgetting?!" Ollie raised his voice and slammed his fist into his palm. "You remember your youth here, sure. This whole *city* looks like it did when you first started out. You remember the tragedy, the guilt, when Coast City was destroyed. But do you remember what happened in between? On the road? In cities that *live*? When you learned to help *people* rather than merely fight brightly-colored EVIL?" He paced back and forth, his energy bursting out of Hal's kitchen.

Hal looked at the coffee maker for a second. His voice was low and controlled. "You're one to talk about choosing to forget."

"I dealt. I remember. We all know how *that* worked out. Besides: I wanted to forget about the times I killed. From the look of this place," he gestured at the sparse apartment, decorated in the fashion of a young air force pilot, "You want to deny a lot more than that."

"There was a lot more than killing to those years of *your* life, too. And I *don't* forget. Any of it. I have Coast City back, and *will* live here." He slammed a mug down on the counter. "As a reminder. In the hopes that people will come back."

"As often as I *saw* you here back in the day, I'd have never guessed you were so attached to this place." Ollie crossed his arms and looked down in contempt.

Hal raised an eyebrow. "You seem quite attached to Star City now yourself, for a man who hasn't lived there in years. You want to forget Seattle *that* much?"

Ollie clenched his fists. "I'm 'attached' to Star because I have people there. Family. Citizens to protect, children to care for. It's not *architectural*."

"And one day, I believe there will be people in Coast City again, too." He had regained his deceptive calm.

If anything Hal's calm made Ollie even *more* passionate. "Low housing costs, governmental subsidies--and their very own superhero, brought back from death and *disgrace*. Yeah, eventually people may be desperate enough to return. Meanwhile, you sit here in the apartment you owned ten years ago, work at an air force base you haven't worked at since you were twenty-five, and attach yourself to some city that's no more than a clean, shiny *abstraction*."

"Coming in and telling me how to run my life *worked* ten years ago. I'm older now. I thought you were, too." Hal looked into Ollie's eyes, his own flashing.

"Yes, here we are." Ollie took a step closer, almost in Hal's personal space. "Two middle-aged guys, back from the dead in bodies too young, both living in the past. But I? At least live with *people*. Losing your grip on reality is *dangerous* with that ring of yours."

"I know the dangers. I've known what it is to change reality with a thought." It was almost a threat. "Believe me, this ring is *safer* than I used to be."

"Then deny the reality of this." Ollie hit him across the face.

Hal stood there for a second. Then he removed his ring, and put it on the kitchen counter. "Let's take this to the living room."

"Spare the appliances?" Ollie backed off and moved to the other room.

"More space as well." The two men stood in front of each other, quivering with anger.

"Take your best shot," said Ollie. "Or have your years of omnipotence gotten you out of shape?"

"Not at all," said Hal, and threw a punch to Ollie's abdomen. Ollie struck back to Hal's left shoulder, and they were off.

"Feel what it's like to deal with someone *real*!" said Ollie, between blows.

At Ollie's next kick, to his instep, Hal stumbled back against an armchair. Ollie kicked him again, forcing him to half-sit, while blocking Hal's blow toward his stomach. In another minute, Hal was pinned. Not helpless by any means; he could summon his ring if necessary. But still, physically outclassed by his opponent, who now straddled him in the armchair.

"Satisfied?" asked Hal.

"Well. You seem not to have forgotten *some* things." Ollie grinned. "Although you should let me take you down to the streets sometime. Get back in practice."

Hal smiled back. "I *do* seem to remember that a fistfight would always make you feel better."

"And here I thought that was you."

"Well. We do have a thing or two in common. Other than forgetfulness and color choice." Hal looked up. "Are you getting off me now? I yield."

Ollie looked down at him and smirked. "Do you admit I'm right?"

"I wouldn't go that far. But there's coffee." The coffeemaker sustained this point, steaming and sputtering.

"Just as long as you remember what I said. Now, and years ago."

"Right. Now let me up."

Ollie climbed off the chair and offered a hand to Hal. Hal shook it firmly and stood up himself. He grinned and summoned the ring from the next room--he didn't want to be *too* much of a threat, and the physical fighting was, as always, cathartic, but no need to let Ollie be *too* confident in his skills.

Hal walked over and poured two mugs of coffee. "So, was *that* a part of your mission for the JLA."

"Nah, that was personal. I just tell the JLA I'll keep an eye on you so they don't have to send some kid over. Should warn you though--I don't check in by 0800 tomorrow, and they send in the cavalry."

"I'll try not to keep you, then."

"You sure you couldn't use the company?"

"Well, it would be *one* way of getting visitors. But I do *try* not to make my friends and allies any angrier than necessary."

"You did always *use* to be the tactful one." Ollie leant on the counter and took a quite large sip of his coffee. "Though from what I hear about you slugging Batman last week, a lot of us were afraid you came back like Gardner did, way back when."

Hal winced into his coffee. "That one's gotten all over the JLA reserve by now, has it?"

"People tend to talk to me when there are rumors about you. And this one, Gardner's telling to anyone who'll listen. Fortunately for you, it's Gardner, so most 'em don't quite believe him." He threw his hand out, coffee cup and all. "John, though, I believe. And you certainly did *something* to impress Gardner that much."

Hal sighed. "Well--that was honestly part of the purpose. Although I wish there were less damaging ways of getting Guy's loyalty. At that time--we needed fear. But we didn't need doubt, no matter how legitimate. So I needed to act quickly, and effectively, and deal with the diplomatic consequences after we dealt with Parallax."

"Hit first, apologize later? I'll run that excuse by the appropriate people, but Hal, no matter *what* you were under the influence of, you're going to have to show some contrition sometime. I *know* you're capable of it, I've *seen* you."

"I know. But I spent *years* being contrite, when I was calling myself Parallax, when I was in limbo, even when I was the Spectre. I want to prove my heroism by *being* a hero. Not by going on another guilt-filled road trip."

"A hero in an empty city, that no one will come to, either because they're afraid of Mongol or because they're afraid of you?"

"We've gone by that already."

"And I don't intend to let you forget it. Or that there are other things and people in this world."

Hal strode forward, just a pace and a half, until he was standing right in front of Ollie. He put a hand on the other man's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Ollie, I don't intend *to* forget it. I'm *not* going to forget seeing America with you. But sometimes I have *other priorities*." He stepped back. "So is there anything *else* in my life you would like to criticize?"

"Well, with an invitation like *that*--how go things with your old flame?" Ollie leaned back, some of the tension broken. "She enjoying the new aircraft base you built her?"

Hal smiled slightly. "Carol is married. We're regaining a friendship, though."

Ollie raised his eyebrow.

"Just a friendship."

"Well, at least she's not trying to kill you. Though that Star Sapphire costume was pretty hot."

Hal elbowed him with a long, green elbow. "Watch what you say about *my* old villains."

"O-ho, she's still *yours*, eh?"

"Carol is always Carol's. Still is. *Speaking* of which, how are you getting along with Dinah nowadays?"

Ollie glared at his coffee. "She has her life, I have mine. When we have a team-up, we're civil."

"That bad? Not even fighting?"

"Mostly she's in Gotham, anyway. Always was. So...meet anyone else?"

"Looking for an introduction? I've only been *back* so long, and *you're* the one with the city full of people."

"No? Or are you just hiding? Is she crazy, underage, or an alien this time?"

A green hand swatted Ollie on the back of the head. Ollie ducked. "Honestly, it's only been a week or so. There's a cute blond at work that as far as I know is none of the above, but we've barely gotten to 'flirting'. Well, that and her investigating the material of my costume..."

"What, has it changed? Let me see."

Hal had switched back to civilian clothes on the porch. He sighed. "What is it about the costumes?" He flickered back into his.

"Don't you know? You hang out with a bunch of fetishists. Yeah, this does feel different." Ollie stroked down his side, investigating the difference between the black and green. "Where are your clothes, by the way? Us normal people just have to take 'em off, but you GLs seem to stash 'em in a pocket dimension."

"Don't you know? I haven't worn a real set of clothes in ten years."

"You're kidding me."

"Yes. And *you're* feeling me up."

"Do you mind? I've got a professional interest in these things."

"Not to mention being a fetishist."

"Fishnets it's not." Ollie's hand moved over Hal's thigh.

"And yet."

"It's as if you're not wearing anything. Well, except for the temperature difference."

"It's energy now."

"Just the *costume*, Hal?" Ollie pulled back, just a little, suddenly more serious, but didn't break contact. "I hear Alan Scott's *all* energy these days, and your body wound up in the sun a coupla years back, they tell me."

"My body came back out. I'm *human* again, Ollie."

"Lessee...yeah, I'll say so. This costume doesn't leave much to the imagination, either."

"Does it look like it's designed to?"

"Nope. Though *some* of us have to wear athletic cups."

Hal raised an eyebrow, along with certain other parts of his anatomy. "For fighting crime, or for arguments with your girlfriends?" He caught his breath and took a hold of the counter, carefully moving both coffee cups out of range with a couple pairs of green tongs.

"Either way." Ollie investigated further. "Say, anyone ever hit you in the balls with something yellow?"

"...you know, I think this conversation is working at cross-purposes with what your *hands* are doing. Which is very definitely *groping me*."

"You noticed. I'm flattered."

"You haven't done this before."

"Things have changed. You mind?"

"If I minded, you wouldn't still be groping me."

"...mind groping back?"

Hal grinned. There was a flash of green.

"...then again, that (*oof!*) works too," said Ollie a second later, stripped naked and lying on his back in Hal's bed. "Not *quite* like real nudity, then..." He explored the difference.

"If we're doing this, I might just as well keep you quiet."

"What's the fun in th.....mmmmmmm."

Hal pressed down against Ollie's body, exploring Ollie's mouth and pressing their dicks together. He hadn't gotten any since before he was taken by Parallax, and *man* it felt good.

Hal relaxed for a second, and a second later, Ollie had flipped them over, holding his shoulder down with one hand and proving his mouth was as aggressive in kissing as it was in speech. He reached his other hand down between them, holding their cocks together, rubbing them both, and in another second, Hal came. It had been a long time.

Ollie pulled back and smirked. "Looks like you *have* gone back to your youth, old buddy."

"I'm not the only one who's younger than he used to be," Hal hissed, when he'd sufficiently recovered. He turned them over again, using his ring only a *little* to discourage opposition by Ollie's greater upper-body strength, and, coordinating his hands with Ollie's and the slickness between their bodies, he brought Ollie to his own orgasm a minute later.

"Not bad," commented Ollie. "For so little recent practice."

"You *did* seem to enjoy it."

"We hardly *did* anything, really."

"It worked. Did you have other plans?"

"You know, one advantage of an empty city is you have a *lot* of privacy..." Ollie stretched out on the bed, nudging Hal off him.

"Thinking of moving in here after all?" Hal rolled onto his side, head resting on one arm, and looked over at Ollie.

"...you're not *that* good a lay."

"I should demand another round for that one."

"What, you *want* me to move in?"

"Hey, Coast City needs all the population it can get."

"If this is how you're repopulating the city, you'd better *hope* you're a lot younger than you used to be."

"Hey, there are a *lot* of things rings are good for."

"So I hear. Though I've seen so *few* of them demonstrated..."

"I get the feeling you're trying to talk me into another round."

"Not as if there's anything *else* to do in a empty city."


End file.
